


Father to her Friends

by bethany81707



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: During Timeskip (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Father-Daughter Relationship, Flash Fic, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Minor Edelgard von Hresvelg/Lysithea von Ordelia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27480589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethany81707/pseuds/bethany81707
Summary: Edelgard brings the Black Eagles home to her father on his deathbed, so he can meet them just once.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Father to her Friends

Edelgard paused as she stood in front of the door. She had been determined to invite the Black Eagles to meet the man on the other side, and this would no doubt be her last chance. But doubt seized her at the last step, and she turned back to the expectant faces of her friends. They all looked supportive, but Edelgard could sense a level of apprehension, bubbling beneath the surface. It dawned on her that all of them had shaky relationships with their fathers at best.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Caspar muttered, leaning in and knocking on the door.

“Come in,” Ionius said before Edelgard could do more than hiss. With the invitation issued, the eight people filed into the room, with Edelgard taking a seat beside the man. Ionius took her hands, and pulled himself to a seated position, looking across the colourful group in front of him.

“Are these your friends, El?” Ionius asked.

“Yes they are, Dad. These are the Black Eagles. There’s also Lysithea and Ingrid and… look, I’m fairly sure this room can barely fit eight of us as is,” Edelgard said. Ferdinand looked around, his eyes widening as he realised that the room was, indeed, on the smaller side for a former emperor.

“I am Ferdinand von Aegir. I understand my father has made himself a nuisance?” Ferdinand asked. Ionius nodded sombrely, his knuckles clenching in spite of himself. Ferdinand issued an apology as he stepped back, hoping that Ionius would find better words with his companions.

“I’m Caspar, and I’ll fight for your daughter’s ideas, old man!” Caspar proclaimed proudly, eliciting a smile from the older man despite his daughter’s blush. Ionius reached up to scuffle his hair as he turned to the next person.

“Linhardt. Only reason I’m here is to complete the set, really,” Linhardt said with a yawn. Ionius sighed, but didn’t press the matter.

“Bern… Bernadetta, sir. You… you were nice to Edelgard, right?” Bernadetta asked, shivering like mad. Ionius nodded, holding out his hand. Bernadetta recoiled, and Ionius allowed himself a shiver of his own.

“Dorothea Arnault, Your Majesty. I am proud to be your daughter’s friend, prouder than even she will consider,” Dorothea said, taking Ionius’s outstretched hand and shaking it. Ionius beamed, remembering the opera star from her performances.

“Petra MacNeary. Your dedication to the people of Brigid was commendable, and your daughter’s relationship is even more greater,” Petra said, bowing deeply. Ionius inclined his head, and Petra accepted the effort.

“You’re all so strong… you’re all so great, for putting your faith in my daughter. I’ve never been prouder of my baby girl in my life, knowing she has friends like you and Lysithea,” Ionius said.

“Lysithea’s been here?” Dorothea asked, one of her cheeky smirks at the ready.

“Of course she has, Dorothea. She was rather insistent on meeting my father, and I think they had a long chat,” Edelgard said. Ionius nodded, reflecting on the contents of that discussion. While Lysithea had been initially concerned about how Edelgard’s childhood had come about, Ionius had laid the circumstances before her and the two could have a long discussion about their mutually favourite girl.

“Lysithea represents something powerful for El. I am proud of them both for having faced what they did, and I strongly commend them finding solace with one another. After what El has been through, I couldn’t care less about whether Lysithea is a good partner for an Empress. The only thing that matters is that El has a great big smile on her face when the two of them are together,” Ionius said. Edelgard elbowed him, but the damage was done. For a given definition of damage.

“I wish my dad said stuff like that,” Caspar said wistfully. Ionius turned between him and Edelgard, leaving the latter to sigh.

“None of them have had great fathers. Petra had a great grandfather, though, and Caspar and Linhardt had… not completely horrible dads,” she explained.

“...Come closer. Yes, even you, Aegir,” Ionius said. The girls were the ones to get closest, finding a safe spot to press in for a hug, while Hubert and the other boys awkwardly picked a spot on the outside to appear as having joined the pile.

“I’m sorry, all of you. I was weak, and I couldn’t stop the Insurrection. I had no option but to sit helplessly by as my own children were tortured. There was nothing I could do for you,” Ionius said.

“If there was nothing you could have done, then there is nothing to apologise for,” Ferdinand said. Ionius gave a cough, and Caspar gave a much more gentle pat on the back than expected.

“You all deserve to have known a good father. You chose to take my daughter’s side, even when she challenged the very Church of Seiros that governs the lifestyle of so many, that grants the freedoms many of you were entitled to,” Ionius said.

“Some freedoms,” Dorothea spat.

“Brigid is not freedom,” Petra added, in a more polite tone that told Ionius clearly that she and Dorothea shared a mind.

“It’s not even like we had it easy either,” Bernadetta said.

“Edelgard’s society means I’m going to have to put in effort… but I have to agree. Why should I get special responsibilities because I’m born with a Crest? Let Caspar take them, he clearly wants them,” Linhardt said.

“Thank you. I know you’ll never stray from El’s side if you believe so strongly in her vision. I had only wished I had shared it sooner. Perhaps El might never have had to go through so much pain. But I never had friends like you. And your Professor was quite the woman, I hope you find her again soon. As for me… I’ll be going to bed. And I won’t wake back up,” Ionius said.

“...Thank you, Dad, for believing in me,” Edelgard said, helping him lie down. The Black Eagles cried for the father who cared.


End file.
